Abstract
ABSTRACTIn this work, an attempt to correlate chemical, mineralogical, textural and physical properties of red clays of Morbi-Wankaner region, Gujarat (India) were made using various characterization techniques. General properties, such as specific gravity, slaking nature and grit content were noted. Bulk chemical composition of clays was determined by wet chemical method. Mineralogical characterization was carried out by XRD and FTIR. Crystallinity and distortion in structure of clay minerals were ascertained in terms of Hinckley index, and change in intensity and wave number of OH stretching bands in FTIR spectrum. Thermal characteristics were evaluated through TG-DTG-DTA. Textural analysis was carried out by SEM, PSA and BET surface area analyzer. As the presence of aggregates was large in red clays, the ground clay was used for determining plastic properties. XRD analysis confirmed presence of partially ordered kaolinite and hematite as the major minerals, with variation in amount of quartz in all the investigated clays. Chemical analysis, FTIR, TG-DTGA and DTA support the major clay minerals identified by XRD. Plastic property was found to be influenced by type and amount of various minerals present in each clay sample and their physical properties. Studies showed that these clays are suitable for ceramic production.
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